Overdose
by kanna-chan94
Summary: SEQUEL TO HUMAN. PLEASE READ RE-WRITTEN ENDING OF THAT BEFORE THIS. A year after Doukoku's defeat, Kotoha is back in the States, where she finds everything she knew has changed. She must help a stranger she met by chance who travelled to the past to save his future. Alex/Kotoha, Takeru/Mako
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **Hello to all my readers, favoriters, subscribers, and all that fun stuff! Welcome to the third - and possibly final fic in the series; I'm still debating - Overdose! I'm slightly tweaking timelines a bit because Shinkenger needs to have a timeline that will work with First Class that will work with Days of Future Past. Frick, that's a mouthful. Did any of that make sense to you? No? Good, because I don't really get it either. Well, I'm sure that will work itself out so that we can all understand it. Eventually. Eh, probably not.**

**WARNING: You're about to see some MAJOR OOC-ness in this chapter from Charles's end. He's going to say some things that he would NEVER EVER SAY IN A MILLION YEARS. It broke my heart writing out those parts, but it will make for some emotional moments (I hope).**

**kanna does NOT own _X-Men_ or _Samurai Sentai__ Shinkenger_. kanna did see _X-Men: Days of Future Past_ and thought it was so awesome that she NEEDS to see it again**

**Let's get this show on the road with this super special awesome sequel/conclusion/whatever you feel like calling it!**

* * *

**Xavier Mansion,**** U.S.A.**

"I know it's a lot to take in," Hank started after Kotoha stared at him in shock for a solid five minutes. They were still in the kitchen of the Xavier mansion. Daichi found Hank's dog, Bear, and was so happy to be reunited with his friend. The two dogs went to a corner of the kitchen and started playing with each other.

"You did this?" Kotoha asked. She was stunned. "So when Charles said he could still hear them..."

"He was hearing the thoughts of all the mutants out there. They were so scared and so alone. Charles couldn't take it. I didn't know what to do. I made the serum. I just didn't think about the psychological effects it would have."

"Do Alex and Sean know?"

"They're in Vietnam. They haven't written to us or anything. We don't know where they're stationed. There's no way to reach them. Well, not without Cerebro. And with Charles being in the state he's in-"

"I could try to use Cerebro."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Hank roared. Kotoha gasped. She couldn't remember ever hearing Hank shout before or after he became Beast. But when he shouted, he sounded more like Beast and less like Hank. Hank realized what happened. "Sorry. I didn't mean to lose it like that. I'm still getting used to this. Anyway, you shouldn't. Charles is the strongest telepath we both know of. I don't know much about telepathy, but I have a feeling Charles wouldn't want you to use it."

Kotoha was about to question Hank's reasoning before she decided against it. "So this serum of yours suppresses mutations? Meaning...?"

"Meaning that by the end of the day, I'll go back to my old, blue, furry self, Charles will have his telepathy back in full force - more or less - and he will no longer be able to walk until he has another dose of serum."

Kotoha's gaze fell. Clearly, she picked a bad time to come. "I'll leave, then. Let me know when things get better."

"What?"

"There's nothing I can do. Charles is-"

"You can stay here. Anything's better than being here alone. I could use the company. Besides, who knows? Maybe you can knock some sense into him."

"I don't want to cause-"

"Kotoha, this is pretty much your second home. You're not causing anyone trouble."

Kotoha wasn't exactly put at ease, but she let it slide when she asked, "How long has this been going on? This whole thing with Charles and the serum and...everything?"

"It's been so quiet around here," Hank sighed. "I've started to lose track of time. All I can tell you is that it's been going on for a while." Kotoha sighed. "We haven't heard anything from Raven or Erik, if that's what you're wondering."

"I have," Kotoha muttered. Hank gaped at her. "Not directly, though. Like I said, they've been making headlines in Japan." Kotoha got up and went to one of her bags. Hank followed her. She opened up a pocket and pulled out a Japanese newspaper that had a picture of Erik on the front page. In prison get-up. She handed it to Hank who stared at it with wide, confused eyes.

"Kotoha, I can't read this. I have no idea what anything says," Hank said as he stared at the paper.

"I know that. I'm going to give you the short version of the translation," Kotoha replied. "Let's just say that Erik's assassination of your president was one of the more recent things to make headlines in Japan. Does Charles know?"

"Well, we do have a TV. And we get the paper. Chances are pretty good that Charles knows. I don't think you'd have to be a telepath to get updates on current events." Hank and Kotoha both sighed.

Another glass shattered upstairs. "Good G-d, how many glasses does he have up there?" Kotoha asked. Yet another glass shattered. "You know what? Don't answer that. I don't think I want to know. How do you sleep with that noise?"

"Get used to it, I guess." Hank sighed. He really didn't want to talk about this anymore. "Are you hungry? Airplane food isn't exactly great."

Kotoha could see that Hank was still bothered by the topic at hand and didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Yeah, I'm a little hungry. What is there to eat? I can cook something. It won't be as good as Mako's-"

"That reminds me. How are the other Shinkengers?"

"I haven't talked to them in a while. Last I heard, Mako went with her parents to Hawaii and she's working as a waitress at a restaurant there. Takeru is studying English at a university in Japan, Genta is traveling the world to learn more about the different types of seafood, and Ryuunosuke is doing more kabuki."

"What about Chiaki?"

Kotoha looked down. "We don't talk anymore." Hank could tell that he touched a nerve with that question when Kotoha asked, "What is there to eat? I'll cook something."

"There's not a ton of food. I've done most of the shopping, but cooking isn't exactly my forte. I haven't burned anything, but the food has started to become the same after a while." Hank and Kotoha got up and Hank opened up the fridge to reveal eggs, some vegetables that didn't look very good, and something that Kotoha couldn't identify at all. There were some drinks in the refrigerator, as well. "There's some other stuff in the pantry, too. I haven't had the chance to go shopping this week. Let's get going."

"Are you sure it's okay to just leave the professor here?"

"I don't like doing it anymore than you do, but we don't really have a choice. You don't really know your way around New York. And don't call him that. There's no professor here. There hasn't been one here for three months."

"Three months?"

"Look, I don't want to talk about it. Let's go."

"But your serum-"

"It's the early in the afternoon. The serum is going to wear off at some point in the evening. As long as we're back before then, I'll be fine."

"I don't feel comfortable just leaving Charles here. I'll call a cab. I just need the name of the store, a shopping list, and some money."

"What are you thinking about making?"

"Something simple, like ramen noodles with beef."

"Sounds tasty."

* * *

That line at the store was took forever. Well, it was really half an hour, but the store that Kotoha had visited with Raven and Hank before had done a lot of renovating, and it took Kotoha a long time to find everything on Hank's list. Kotoha really wished she hadn't turned down Hank's offer of going to the store with her, but she knew that it was probably a bad idea to just leave Charles by himself in the current state he was in. She silently wished that her telepathy was strong enough so that she could handle Cerebro and use it to reach Alex, Sean, or...anyone. Heck, even Erik or Raven would be fine.

Someone had to be there for Charles. Hank's sanity couldn't take anymore. Hank hid it well, but Kotoha could see that he was bothered by everything that was going on. He wouldn't vent anything to Kotoha at all. She sighed as she got a cab and gave the driver an address close to the mansion so that she could walk the rest of the way and that the driver wouldn't figure out where the mansion was and then reveal the location to people Kotoha didn't even want to think about.

When Kotoha got out of the cab a few minutes later, she paid the cab driver and it started to rain. Hard. Kotoha cursed to herself in Japanese as she walked up to the mansion. It was a pretty quiet walk until she heard Hank's mind scream, "What the fuck is going on? Who is this guy?"

Kotoha's walk turned into a run, and she was at the front door of the mansion in less than a minute. She was soaked from head to toe, but she didn't care. She yanked open the door before she came inside and closed the door behind her. She saw Hank in his blue form on top of what had to be a very expensive chandelier as he tried to avoid what looked like a familiar person to Kotoha. He had claws made out of bone, not metal, but nonetheless, Kotoha remembered him. "_Logan?_" Kotoha gasped. "What are you doing here?"

The person turned around. So it _was_ Logan. "Kotoha, you know this guy?" Hank asked in a way that sounded more like a growl.

"Kotoha?" Logan gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"Answer my question first."

"I'm looking for the professor."

"There's no professor here!" Hank growled from atop the chandelier. "Do we have to spell it out for you?"

She was about to say something before she heard a familiar voice ask, "Hank? What's going on down here?" Everyone looked for the source of the sound, only to find the source coming down the stairs.

Charles.

"Professor?" Logan asked. The professor looked terrible. He looked worse than the time that Kotoha had seen him from when he grabbed Hank. Charles wore his dressing gown and looked incredibly disheveled and drunk.

Charles winced at what Logan said. "Please," Charles said. "Don't call me that."

"Professor?" Kotoha asked. She set down the bags from the store by the door and hesitantly took a few steps towards Logan and Hank.

"You know this guy?" Hank asked.

Charles squinted as he came down the stairs. "Yeah, he looks slightly familiar," he answered. He then took in the scene before him and yelled, "Get off the bloody chandelier, Hank!"

Hank did as he was asked and Logan gaped at the professor going down the stairs. Logan asked, "You can walk?"

"You're a rather perceptive one."

"I thought Erik-"

"It's funny, because if you're so perceptive, you would have noticed our sign on the way in."

Kotoha looked confused. "Sign?" she asked. "What sign? I didn't see any-"

"This is private property, my friends. I'm going to have to ask him," Charles gestured to Hank, "to ask you two to leave."

Kotoha swallowed hard. She understood where Charles was coming from - not really, because she had never been drunk out of her mind - but his words still hurt. "Kotoha stays," Hank growled. "As for the guy here," Hank gestured to Logan, "I'd be more than happy to escort him out."

"About that. It's going to be kind of hard to get me to leave," Logan said. "You see, I was sent here for you."

"Sent?" Kotoha asked. "By who? Did you get a job with the government and you're trying to take the school down? Not that it hasn't already been, but-" Charles gave Kotoha an unusually harsh glare, and Kotoha stopped talking. However, she did look into Logan's mind to find something that was truly unbelievable. She could tell that what Logan was about to say next was the truth; no matter how unbelievable it was.

"Tell whoever it is that sent you that I'm busy," Charles said.

"That's going to be a little tricky," Logan commented, "because the person who sent me here was you."

"What?" Charles asked.

"About fifty years from now."

"'Fifty years from now,' like in the future fifty years from now?"

"Yeah."

Charles laughed before he growled, "Piss off."

"He's telling the truth," Kotoha said quietly.

"If you had your powers, you'd know that," Logan added.

"How do you know I don't have my powers?" Charles asked. "Who are you? Are you CIA?"

"I told you who I am. I'm not CIA. I know you. We've been friends for years. I know your powers came when you were nine. I know you thought you were going crazy when it started, all the voices in your head. And it wasn't until you were twelve that you realized all the voices were in everyone else's head. Do you want me to go on?"

Kotoha, Hank, and Charles all gaped at Logan. Charles never told Hank, Kotoha, or anyone at the mansion from when Kotoha was there about how he dealt with his powers as a kid. "I never told anyone that," Charles gasped.

"No, not yet," Logan replied. "You will."

"What do you want?" Kotoha asked. Everyone else turned to give her a weird look. "I know him. Sort of. Besides, he's telling the truth, as unbelievable as it sounds."

"Someone actually believes me," Logan sighed in relief. "We have to stop Raven. I need your help. _We_ need your help."

"I think I'd like to wake up now," Charles muttered as he walked into the next room.

Kotoha stared after him before she turned her attention back to Hank and Logan. Hank slowly turned back to his human form. "Yeah, I probably should have mentioned that I can control it with the help of the serum," Hank said when his transformation back to his human form was complete.

"You think?" Kotoha asked. "We better follow him. I have a vague idea of what's going on."

"How?" Hank asked as he led the way.

"I read Logan's mind. Remember the paper?"

"Yeah, but I don't see how-"

"If we went through it more - which we probably should have, now that I think about it - there was an article about a project that had to do with giant robots. I'd never heard the word before. Senty-"

"Sentinels," Logan clarified. They were all in the next room and stood across from Charles; who somehow looked worse over the course of less than five minutes.

Logan explained everything that had happened in the future. Kotoha scanned his mind as he talked, and found that Logan was, unfortunately, telling the truth. Would Charles listen to her? Probably not. He was too drunk to listen, let alone think. "Let me see if I have this right," Charles said. "You're saying that they took Raven's power and, what, they weaponized it?"

"She's unique," Hank recalled. Charles agreed.

Logan continued, "In the beginning the Sentinels were just targeting mutants. Then they began to identify the genetics in non-mutants who'd eventually have mutant children or grandchildren. Many of the humans tried to help us. It was a slaughter, leaving only the worst of humanity in charge. I've been in a lot of wars, I've never seen anything like this. And it all starts with her."

"Let's say for the sake of...sake, that I choose to believe you, that I choose to help you," Charles said.

"For G-d's sake," Kotoha muttered. She didn't usually grow impatient, but Charles was starting to get her patience to run a little thin. This was strange, but a lot had probably changed over the course of the year. Charles was drunk off his ass, but that didn't excuse his attitude overall.

Charles continued, "Raven won't listen to me. No, her heart and soul belongs to someone else now."

"I know," Logan replied. "I know. That's why we're going to need Magneto too." Kotoha gasped. Logan had to have meant to say something else. Maybe he meant to say 'magnets' or 'a magnet' or was attempting another language and failing. There was no way he actually meant Magneto. Logan turned to face Kotoha. "You can check my mind. I'm telling the truth."

"Erik?" Kotoha asked. She exchanged a look with Hank who looked just as confused. Charles barked a laugh. Kotoha asked Logan in Japanese, "You do know where he is, right?"

Logan was amazed that Kotoha remembered he knew Japanese before he replied in the same language, "Yeah. In prison."

"Speak _fucking_ English!" Charles yelled as he laughed harder. He then stopped laughing abruptly and stood up. "That man is where he belongs." Charles began to walk out of the room.

"That's it?" Kotoha asked. She was confused. She looked at Hank and Logan who were also confused. Kotoha hadn't seen the professor in a year, but she had never known him to hate anyone or anything so much. Something more definitely happened in the year she had been gone. It clearly wasn't just Erik that was bothering Charles. "You're just going to walk out? Just like that?"

"Another perceptive one! The only difference being that this one can _barely_ speak English! Top marks!" Charles said in a voice heavy with sarcasm.

Kotoha swallowed hard. This wasn't the professor. This was someone else who had the professor's body and voice. But it definitely wasn't the professor. Charles would never say stuff like that. There had to have been more that had happened over the year that she was gone. Logan could see what was happening and countered, "The Professor I know would never turn his back on someone who lost their path, especially someone he cared about. Nor would he insult the English of a foreigner who was trying their best to learn it."

Charles turned around with an expression of sudden realization on his face. "You know," Charles started, "I think I do remember you now. Yes. We came to you a long time ago seeking your help. And I'm going to say to you what you said to us then." Charles got in Logan's face and slurred, "Go fuck yourself."

Logan angrily grabbed Charles and growled, "Listen to me you, little shit!"

"Logan!" Kotoha gasped. Hank just stood as far away from the situation as he could.

Logan ignored her. "I've come a long way, and I've watched a lot of people die, good people, friends. If you want to wallow in self-pity and do nothing, then you're going to watch the same thing! You understand?"

"We all have to die some time," Charles said. With that, he walked out.

"Told you there was no professor here," Hank muttered as he went back to his lab.

"What happened?" Logan asked in Japanese as he turned to face Kotoha.

Kotoha finally let out all the tears she was holding in. She wasn't sure why she felt so comfortable with Logan. She didn't even know him that well, considering they had only met once. The feeling wasn't a romantic feeling of any kind. But Logan felt like a big brother, in a way. She told him everything that Hank had told her and that it was all she knew. "There's more," Kotoha added in Japanese. "There's more that Hank isn't telling me." Logan sighed. He wished he had the answers. "When you met the professor...did you really tell him-"

"Yeah, I really told him to go fuck himself. Seemed appropriate at the time."

"I won't hold it against you. But, to be fair, you were a little harsh just now. Why did you call him a little shit?"

"Why do you want to know? You have a better idea?"

"I don't usually insult people, but you could have gone with something a little less harsh. Just my opinion." Logan sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, I believe you."

"The professor from my time mentioned you."

"What did he say?"

"Something about how you would be able to help me." Kotoha stared at him. "That's literally all he said."

"You're a help. I know he was drunk out of his mind, but that insult about my English was just too far. I'm almost tempted to just speak _only_ Japanese in front of him and _only_ translate for Hank. Give him a real reason to ask me to 'speak _fucking_ English.'" She switched back to English when she said, "At least we can talk in Japanese and he won't have a clue what we're talking about and-"

"I'll help you get her," a voice said from the doorway. Logan and Kotoha looked to see Charles standing in the doorway and Hank was trying to catch up to him. "Not for any of your future...past...whatever shit, but for her."

"Fair enough," Logan said as he shrugged. All Charles needed to do was help.

"I'll tell you this, though. You don't know Erik. That man is a monster, a murderer. You think you can convince Raven to change, to come home? That's splendid. But what makes you think you can change him?"

Kotoha looked at the floor as Logan said, "Because you and Erik sent me back here together."

* * *

**A/N: Again, it practically ripped my heart into pieces writing out some of these parts. I _LOVE_ James McAvoy (fun fact: he's going to be in a movie with Daniel Radcliffe in 2015), and I downright hated making him say those things. I'm totally aware it was OOC, but I'm already writing out some emotional moments. Charles was drunk off his ass. Not trying to excuse his attitude or anything, but when people are drunk, they tend to say a lot of things they don't really mean. I also feel like George Lucas right now, because I have this chapter written and the last chapter written, and everything else is in the form of outlines.**

**Quick trivia bit (slight spoilers; nothing that ruins the movie overall if you haven't seen it): ****Charles (James McAvoy) actually didn't get the line right in _DoFP_. In the movie, Charles said that the line Logan had said in _FC_ was, "Fuck off." But the line Wolverine said in _FC_ was actually, "Go fuck yourself." This didn't really bother me, but it was something I felt should have been looked at during editing or writing or whatever. So I changed it for this story. There are going to be other bits of _DoFP_ changed as well. Warning you in advance. ****Reviews are love! ~kanna**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Welcome to chapter 2 of Overdose! A HUGE thanks goes out to Shadow Songstress for being my first reviewer for this fic!**

**kanna does not own _X-Men_ or _Samurai Sentai Shinkenger_. You know who they belong to.**

**Unfortunately, our other Shinkenger friends won't be joining us this chapter. They'll join us in the next chapter. Well...one or two of them will. They'll slowly be making their way into the story little by little.**

* * *

Kotoha wasn't a violent person, which is why she didn't understand what she was doing outside creating giant rocks and throwing them against the trees in the woods outside the mansion the next day. She was mad at the whole situation that she was in. She was mad at the situation for being what it was and she was mad at the professor for asking her to 'speak _fucking_ English.'

Charles's words hurt Kotoha. While her English was conversational and she could understand it, there were often a few words or phrases that she didn't know. Kotoha's English wasn't perfect, but the professor that she knew would never say stuff like that, no matter how drunk he was.

After throwing another rock, Kotoha created a platform from the ground with her standing on it. It took a lot of concentration, but she managed to levitate the platform a few feet off of the ground and have it move with her on it to an area in front of the mansion. Once she got to her destination, she started to set the platform down.

When it wasn't even two inches away from the ground, something hit Kotoha in the head and made her lose concentration. She fell off of the platform and rubbed her head before she turned to see what had hit her. It was a paper airplane. The words 'open up' were written on one of the wings. Kotoha looked at it before she opened up the paper and saw the words 'turn around' written on the inside. Kotoha raised an eyebrow. Who could possibly be trying to contact her? This was a strange means of communication. Kotoha raised an eyebrow before she turned around and saw someone she least expected.

"Alex?" Kotoha gasped. Alex laughed as he ran up to Kotoha and gave her a tight hug. "How long have you been there?"

"Not even two minutes," Alex said. "I didn't think you'd be here, and when I saw you, I wanted to surprise you. Surprise!"

"I didn't think you'd be here, either. I thought you were in Vietnam."

"I was. They decided to ship home early."

"'Ship home?'"

"Send us home."

"Wait, so if you're here, then that means that Sean is, too, right?"

Alex sighed as he gently pulled away from Kotoha. "Sean...he didn't make it," Alex sighed.

"Didn't make it? Is he...dead?"

Alex sighed as he sat down and motioned for Kotoha to join him. "Yeah. But it wasn't the war that killed him."

"Wasn't the...what do you mean?"

"Ever heard of a guy named Stryker?" Kotoha shook her head. That name hadn't made papers in Japan, and from what she had seen from the newsstands in the airport in America, he hadn't made papers in here, either. "Well, to put it simply...he hates mutants. He took Sean and a few others who were drafted in for what he referred to as 'testing.' I found out later that Stryker was working for a higher up - I don't remember the sick fuck's name - and that the tests weren't actually tests. They were experiments. Most of the people taken in for the experiments didn't survive, and those who came out alive only survived for the week before their bodies couldn't take anymore and gave out."

"How did you get out?"

"Would you believe me if I told you Raven got me out?" Kotoha's eyes widened at the mention of Raven. "Yeah. She disguised herself and managed to put us on the first plane back. I took a bus to somewhere near here and walked the rest of the way. Enough about me, though. You look like something's bothering you."

Kotoha sighed. "I'm really not in the mood to talk about it right now."

"I want to help you. If something is bothering you, let me help.

Kotoha sighed. "I don't want to talk about it. Can I show you instead?"

Alex was surprised. Although it had only been a year, Kotoha was usually pretty open and talked about her feelings with Alex. He remembered her letters before he left for Vietnam and how she couldn't wait to come back to America. Whatever happened must have been pretty bad for her not to want to talk about it. Alex nodded and turned to face Kotoha. She put her hands on either side of his head and closed her eyes. She projected images of everything that had happened into Alex's head.

Once she had finished projecting, Kotoha opened her eyes and removed her hands from Alex's head. A silent tear made its way down her face and Alex gently brushed his hand across Kotoha's face to wipe it away. Alex was speechless. Things really had changed at the mansion, and not for the better. "That asshole," Alex growled. "He seriously-"

"Yeah. 'Speak _fucking_ English' were his exact words." Alex stood up abruptly. Anger was evident on his face. No one hurt Kotoha and got away with it that easily. Not if he could help it. Alex angrily marched into the mansion. Kotoha tried to restrain him, but she didn't use enough force in her powers to anchor his feet to the earth. Clearly, military training had allowed Alex to grow much stronger. Kotoha ran after him and tried to tell him not to hurt Charles, but her words fell on deaf ears.

Alex didn't even have to think about where Charles was. He knew his way around the mansion. He relied simply on instinct. When he found Charles, he was in the study with Hank and Logan. Alex cleared his throat loudly. Hank looked up and a smile appeared on his face. While Alex was happy to see Hank, that wasn't who he was here for. "Professor," Alex growled as he walked up to Charles. Kotoha finally caught up with Alex just in time to see him punch Charles in the face.

"Alex!" Kotoha gasped.

"Good to see you, too," Charles said as he rubbed the spot where it hurt. "What was that for?"

"You should know," Alex said as he prepared to punch again. "You're more than deserving of getting the ever loving shit kicked out of you. I was in Vietnam, and I never went around asking the Vietnamese people to 'speak _fucking_ English.'"

"Speak fucking...who did I say that to? When did I-" Charles looked in the doorway and saw Kotoha. Silent tears were making their way down her face. "Kotoha?" Everything from the day before suddenly came flooding back into Charles's memory. Charles looked at Kotoha in shock.

"Alex," Kotoha quietly said, "no more. Please." With that, Kotoha walked out of the room. Alex lowered his fist and gave Charles a look that was so threatening that even Logan backed away. If looks could kill, Charles probably would have been six feet under in less than five seconds.

* * *

Charles sighed as he walked around the interior of the mansion and wondered where Kotoha could possibly be so he could find her and apologize. In his defense, he was drunk. That didn't call for him saying what he did, though. Kotoha was one of the kindest and most gentle people he knew. She didn't deserve to have something like that said to her.

He sighed in regret as he wished he could take back what he said. Charles couldn't make this search easier on himself by using his powers because Hank's serum was still in effect. A sharp but sweet sound suddenly filled his ears. It was a sound that Charles hadn't heard in a year. He smiled to himself. Kotoha was playing her flute outside. He wanted to slap himself for not going outside to check.

Charles walked outside and followed the source of the sound to find Kotoha sitting in front of the mansion and leaning against it as she played. Her eyes were closed as silent tears made their way down her face while she played. Daichi sat next to her and looked up at Kotoha. It was as though his own charm from being a cute dog would be able to make everything better for her.

Charles sat down on the other side of Kotoha and listened to her play. When she finished, she put her instrument down and sighed. She opened her eyes and looked at the woods in front of her. She knew Charles was next to her. His presence was familiar to Kotoha. She could sense it in the earth. She didn't say anything; nor did she turn to face him.

The two sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, but was only about two minutes in reality. Charles decided to break the silence when he said, "I was hoping we could talk." Charles looked at Kotoha and waited for her to say something. Preferably in English, given he didn't know Japanese.

Unfortunately, his luck ran a little short. "What do you want?" Kotoha asked in Japanese without turning to face Charles. "Come out to tell me to stop talking altogether?"

Charles didn't know Japanese, so he was only able to make probable guesses as to what Kotoha was saying. However, he could guess that Kotoha was probably asking him what he was doing outside. She wasn't the type of person to dish out insults, so he thought. Then again, it had been a year. A lot had changed. Charles couldn't reply back in Japanese because of his lack of knowledge of the language. He couldn't reply back telepathically because he didn't have his powers. Instead, he used English when he said, "I came to apologize. What I said before was uncalled for and inexcusable. I just...last year..." Charles trailed off.

Kotoha switched to English when she said, "You could have written to me. You could have come to Japan to visit. But when everyone leaves you, I guess it's better to isolate yourself from the world and coop yourself up in a dark room, where you drown your sorrows with serum and alcohol."

Charles felt momentarily relieved at Kotoha's switch of languages. He didn't let that show on his face or in his thoughts, however. "He took her away. He took her away and abandoned me." Kotoha didn't need specifics to know that Charles was talking about Erik and Raven. "When the other teachers and older students were drafted into the war, parents came and picked up their children. The ones without parents were taken to nearby orphanages. I couldn't handle hearing the pain of all the other mutants out there. Hank made the serum to suppress my telepathy and give me back my legs."

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," Kotoha sighed. "Guess you didn't realize that."

Charles sighed. "You're right. My selfishness aside; I was drunk when I said...that." The phrase didn't bear repeating. "I didn't mean what I-"

"I know that," Kotoha muttered. "That doesn't make it hurt any less. You can't take it back. You know that. Besides, being drunk isn't an excuse. Actually, scrape that."

"Scratch that."

"Whatever. Being drunk isn't an excuse _at all_. If you're trying to get my forgiveness, you've already started straying from the path." Kotoha's walls to protect herself were so strong that Charles had no chance of getting through.

"I'm sorry. I was drunk-"

"What part of being drunk not being an excuse don't you understand? Everyone is responsible for their own emotions and actions. Would it kill you to take some responsibility and think about other people besides yourself?"

"What does it look like I'm-"

"It looks like you're just moping around and feeling sorry for yourself." Kotoha softened her tone a little bit when she said, "I know it's been a year, and while I don't really know about everything that happened while I was gone, I know that you went through a lot. I just...it hurt. Your words hurt."

Charles sighed. "I don't suppose you or Logan have somehow developed the mutation to travel through time?"

Kotoha laughed quietly. "I haven't, and Logan can't time travel through his powers. He was sent here through the power of someone else from the future. Regardless, there is no one here with the power to turn back the clock. Look, I understand that we can't turn back the clock. While I do forgive you - I'm not really sure why I forgive you - I'm still mad at you. You'll have to give me some time."

* * *

The tension in the room that Hank, Charles, Logan, Alex, and Kotoha were gathered in was as thick as pea soup. Everyone was gathered in the study around a table with a map of a building on it. "The room they're holding him in was built during the second World War when there was a shortage of steel," Hank explained.

"No metal," Kotoha realized.

Hank nodded and Charles said, "He's being held a hundred floors beneath the most heavily guarded building on the planet."

"Which is?" Kotoha asked. She couldn't think of a ton of places in the States that were heavily guarded, aside from the White House.

"The Pentagon," Hank answered.

"Why is he in there?" Logan asked.

Alex, Kotoha, and Hank shifted uncomfortably. The three of them exchanged a look as if they were asking each other who wanted to tell Logan about why Magneto was in there. "What, he forgot to mention?" Charles laughed.

"He, uh, hekilledJFK," Alex said awkwardly and more than a little quickly.

"What?" Logan asked. "Run that by me again?"

"Uh...JFK," Hank explained.

"He killed...?"

"What else would explain a bullet miraculously curving through the air?" Charles countered. "Erik's always had a way with guns. You sure you want to carry on with this?"

"It's not like we have a choice," Kotoha sighed. "Logan, this is your plan, not ours. If the penthouse-"

"Pentagon," Alex corrected.

"Pentagon," Kotoha corrected herself, "is as heavily guarded as you say, then there's no way to get in. No resources to get us in."

"Or out," Charles added. "It's just been me and Hank until all of you showed up."

"I know a guy," Logan recalled. Everyone turned to face him. "Yeah, he'd be a young man now. Grew up outside of D.C. He could get into anywhere. Just don't know how the hell we're gonna find him."

"That helps," Alex muttered sarcastically.

"What about Cerebro?" Logan asked. "Can't we find him with Cerebro?"

Hank looked at Charles who shook his head. "I could try," Kotoha said quietly. Everyone except for Logan turned to face Kotoha as though she had three heads. "I know my telepathy is limited, but it's worth a try."

"Absolutely not," Hank and Alex said together.

"It's not really your decision to make," Logan countered. He turned to Charles. "You can't use Cerebro. You're out of commission because you don't have your powers. The only telepath here is Kotoha. It's her decision. Whether we want it to be or not, it's her decision."

Charles sighed. He remembered Kotoha's telepathy was limited. She could only read the mind of a person if they were standing on the ground. Cerebro could, indeed, amplify a telepath's powers, but said telepath had to be able to handle Cerebro's capabilities. Kotoha would not be able to handle it without great risk to herself. "I know you're about to say something along the lines of 'look who's talking,'" Charles sighed, "but I agree with Hank and Alex."

Kotoha gaped at Charles before she said, "You're right. I am about to say something along those lines. Look who's talking. You're out of commission in terms of telepathy. If we don't use Cerebro, what other alternatives do we-"

"We have a phone book," Hank mumbled. Everyone gaped at him as if a phone book and a telephone were alien objects. Hank only shrugged his shoulders.

* * *

"Remember what I said about hating heights?" Kotoha asked. She looked green as she held tightly onto Alex as they sat in the back of a car going at a speed that nearly everyone thought impossible. Logan found the address and phone number of who he was looking for, so he, Hank, Charles, Alex, and Kotoha all piled into a car and went on their way to the area just outside of D.C. to find said mutant. Charles drove, which probably wasn't the best idea. It was amazing that police didn't see the car moving at such an impossible speed, making illegal turns, and shaking up quite a few farm animals when they drove through farm country.

"What about it?" Alex asked in response. He, like Kotoha, also looked green. He had that feeling in his stomach of something he ate slowly coming up his digestive system.

"I think I hate Charles driving a car almost as much now. I feel like I'm going to be sick. I don't suppose you have a bag or something?" Kotoha felt something going in the wrong direction inside of her. Alex and Hank both shook their heads.

The car continued along at a speed that was bound to get them several tickets before Logan shouted, "Here, here, here!"

"Where?" Charles asked.

"Just up here!"

"Alright, alright!" The car screeched to a halt in front of a small, modern-looking house that had a black mailbox with the name 'Maximoff' written on the side. Kotoha quickly opened the window and threw up everything inside of her promptly after the car stopped.

"Well, that's disgusting," Charles muttered.

Logan glared at Charles as he said, "Next time, I'm driving. Don't get used to it." Alex, Hank, and Kotoha got out of the car. Kotoha drew strength from the earth which quickly helped her to recover from how sick she felt. She didn't feel a hundred percent better, but she felt well enough to move and do other things.

The three of them joined Charles and Logan as they walked to the front door of the house. Logan knocked on the door and a woman who looked fairly exasperated answered the door. "What has he done now?" She asked. "I'll write you a check for whatever he took." Looks were exchanged among the younger mutants as Logan explained to the woman that they just wanted to talk to the kid. The woman sighed and let them in. "Pietro," she hollered, "the cops are here! Again!" No answer. "He's usually in the basement. Just through that door and down the stairs," she pointed.

The mutants walked down the stairs where a boy with silver hair was playing table tennis...with himself. He looked to be about Alex's age; maybe a little older. "What do you guys want?" the kid asked. "I didn't do anything." No one had blinked before they noticed the kid had somehow appeared on the couch behind them. "I've been here all day."

"Relax, Pietro, we're not cops," Logan explained.

The kid - who Kotoha now knew to be named Pietro - appeared behind them with Charles's wallet in hand. "No, you're not cops," Pietro said. "If you were cops, you wouldn't drive a rental car."

Pietro spoke so fast that Kotoha could barely follow what he was saying. Kotoha was about to speak up and ask him to slow down before Pietro continued, "I checked your registration when you were walking through the door. I also had some time to kill so I went through your rental agreements. Saw you were from out of town. Are you FBI?" Faster than Kotoha could process or even blink, Pietro pulled a card out of Charles's wallet and asked, "Hey, what's with this 'gifted youngsters' place?"

The guy seemed to have an attention span that was less than that of a goldfish, because he dropped the wallet and card as quickly as he picked the two items up and ran over to some sort of arcade-game machine where he proceeded to play some game. "That's an...old card," Charles muttered as he picked the two items up.

"He's a pain in the ass," Charles commented.

"A teleporter?" Hank asked Logan.

"No, he's just fast," Logan explained. "But when I knew him, he wasn't so young."

"'Young?'" Pietro asked as he appeared in front of the group again. "You're just old."

"You're not afraid to show your powers?" Kotoha asked as she mentally prayed that he'd slow down his speech just enough for her.

Unfortunately for Kotoha, he didn't. Everything he said sounded like one GIANT word made up of a bunch of smaller words. "'Powers?' What powers? What are you talking about? Did you see something strange here? Nothing anybody would believe you if you told them." Pietro used is powers to go back to his game which he played at rapid-fire speed.

"We need your help, Pietro," Logan said.

"With what?"

"Breaking into a highly secured facility and getting someone out."

"Prison break? That's illegal, you know."

Everyone looked around the room that was filled with random junk that ranged from food to games to records and other items. "How much money would you be willing to bet that all of this was stolen?" Kotoha asked Hank. He only nodded in agreement.

"It's only illegal if you get caught," Logan said.

"What's in it for me?" Pietro asked.

Charles's patience was starting to run out as he answered, "You, you kleptomaniac, get to break into the Pentagon."

It was evident that this peaked Pietro's interest because he stopped playing his game. He turned around in his chair and asked, "How do I know I can trust you?" Logan showed Pietro his bone claws, to which Pietro commented, "It's cool, but it's disgusting."

* * *

**I have a pretty good feeling that you guys know what's going to happen in the next chapter. Haha this should be interesting!**

**I was originally going to have Pietro/Peter/Quicksilver (addressing this issue momentarily) try flirting with Kotoha, only for him to be unsuccessful, but then I figured that it would be too much to have in addition to Kotoha's kinda-sorta love triangle between her, Alex, and Chiaki. If you guys want to see Pietro flirt with Kotoha, tell me you do, and I'll TRY to make it happen (I make no promises).**

**If you've seen DoFP, you'll notice that I've been referring to Quicksilver as Pietro and not Peter. Why? Well, in the movie, they changed his name from Pietro to Peter. No reason why; they just did. I'm not necessarily bothered by it, but I do feel that they should have either kept the name as Pietro or the writers should have given a reason as to why they changed it. So, for all intents and purposes, Quicksilver will now be referred to as Pietro. There might be other changes made (fairly minor ones, at that), but we'll have to wait and see.**

**Reviews are love! **

**~k**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: An update? Gasp! It's been FOREVER! ****This fic is not dead! I promise! I have to bring this series into _Apocalypse_, don't I?**

**I'm calling Pietro Peter from now on. It just sounds weird calling him Pietro (not that that's a weird name, but it's making the story read in a weird way).**

**Yes, I realize the timelines are a little out of whack now. I'll go back and fix the other chapters eventually.**

**Anywho, get ready for a golden surprise in this chapter!**

**kanna does not own _Shinkenger _or _X-Men_. You know who they belong to.**

* * *

"I cannot BELIEVE you just duct taped that security guard to the wall of an elevator," Kotoha muttered to Peter as he grabbed a tray of food from a line of trays. He scribbled a quick note onto a piece of paper and stuck it on the tray. While Kotoha wore her street clothes, Peter had changed into a security guard's uniform upon duct taping one guard to the wall of an elevator.

"Got a better idea, pretty?" Peter asked flirtatiously as the two walked.

"Yeah. Stop flirting with me. I have a boyfriend."

The two walked on in silence until they reached the room Erik was being held in. Peter and Kotoha looked at each other before Kotoha nodded and Peter slid the tray down a hole in the ceiling. The two watched Erik as he noticed the tray and read the note that said, "Mind the glass" in big letters.

"So, how do we get in?" Kotoha asked. "I can manipulate earth, but cement is a whole other story, and I'm not about to rip the Pentagon apart."

"Relax," Peter said. "Watch this." He got down on his knees and placed his hands on the glass. He started to tap on the glass at an incredible speed. After about a minute, the glass ceiling broke, and Peter and Kotoha helped Erik climb out.

Erik hadn't changed too much over the course of ten years. If anything, he looked a little paler. His blue eyes widened when he saw Kotoha, but he said nothing about it. Instead, he said, "In three seconds those doors are going to open and twenty guards will be here to shoot us."

"I know," Peter replied with a smirk. "That's what I'm waiting for."

Erik raised an eyebrow. "Just roll with it," Kotoha sighed.

Peter grabbed onto Erik and Kotoha's necks and Erik asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm holding your neck so you don't get whiplash," Peter replied quickly.

"What?"

Peter sighed. "Whip...lash." The guards came just as Erik had predicted, but Peter was one step ahead. He held on to Erik and Kotoha's necks as they moved at top speed past the guards into the elevator. Peter quickly changed back into his street clothes as Erik looked like he was about to vomit. "You're good, it'll pass. It happens with everyone. So, what'd you do? Huh? Why'd they have you in there?"

"For killing the President," Erik replied.

Peter nodded before he turned to the duct taped guard and mouthed, "Shit."

"The only thing I'm guilty of is fighting for people like us," Erik explained.

"You take karate? You know karate, man?"

"Peter, I'd shut up now if I were you," Kotoha said.

Peter ignored Kotoha's warning as he remembered something. "They told me you control metal," he recalled.

"'They?'" Erik asked.

"You know, my mom knew a guy who could do that." It didn't take long for Kotoha to put two and two together as she realized what Peter may have known, but Erik definitely didn't. She remained silent.

The elevator door soon opened and revealed Hank, Alex, Charles, and Logan. "Charles?" Erik asked after seeing his old, former friend for the first time in years, only to be hit with a punch in the face from Charles. Kotoha gasped as the others looked on. Charles clenched his hand in pain as Erik rubbed the spot where it hurt. "Good to see you too, old friend, and walking."

"No thanks to you," Charles growled.

"You're the last person in the world I would have expected to see today."

"Believe me, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to. If we get you out of here, we do it my way, no killing."

"No helmet," Erik pointed out. "I couldn't disobey you even if I wanted."

"I'm never getting inside of that head again. I need your word, Erik." Erik nodded.

* * *

After thanking Peter for saving their necks in the Pentagon, they sent him off with the rental car as Hank, Alex, Kotoha, Logan, Charles, and Erik all got on the jet to Paris. All they had to do was hope they got there in time to stop Raven from killing Trask.

Hank piloted the jet as Logan sat reading a newspaper. Alex and Kotoha sat next to each other and were a few seats away from Erik, who sat across from Charles. Charles seemed to be giving Erik quite the death glare. The other mutants could practically feel the tension between the two as they all sat in silence, before Erik asked, "How did you lose them?"

"The treatment for my spine affects my DNA," Charles answered coldly.

"You sacrificed your powers so you could walk?"

"I sacrificed my powers so I could sleep..." Charles trailed off before he asked, "What do you know about it?"

"I've lost my fair share."

Charles scoffed. "Dry your eyes, Erik." Kotoha and Alex exchanged a look as they realized the situation they were in had the potential to get much worse, and there was nothing either of them could do about it. "Doesn't justify what you've done."

"You have no idea what I've done."

"I know you took the things that mean the most to me."

"Well maybe you should have fought harder for them."

"If you want to fight, Erik-" Charles rose from his seat, as did Erik.

"Sit down!" Logan cut in.

Charles ignored him as he continued with, "I will give you a fight!"

"Let him come," Erik said as he, too, ignored Logan.

Charles grabbed Erik by the lapels of his shirt and shouted, "You abandoned me! You took her away and you abandoned me!"

Kotoha and Alex stood up and were about to walk over to try to break things up when Erik spoke. "Angel. Azazel. Emma. Banshee," he listed. "Mutant brothers and sisters, all dead!"

Kotoha's fear of heights started to take over as she fell to the floor and started hyperventilating. "Dammit," Alex muttered as he looked for oxygen masks on the plane. "There have to be oxygen masks here somewhere!"

Erik's anger caused the plane to decompress and it started to fall. "Erik!" Alex yelled as he looked for an oxygen mask for Kotoha. "Stop it!" Alex finally found an oxygen mask and placed it over Kotoha's nose and mouth. He sat her up slowly. "Just breathe," he said to her gently as he rubbed her back. Kotoha nodded and the oxygen bag started to inflate and deflate.

Erik shouted, "Countless others experimented on, butchered!"

"Erik!" Alex, Charles, and Hank, who was starting to lose control of the plane, shouted. The plane was headed right for the ocean and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Where were you, Charles?" Erik continued. "We were supposed to protect them! Where were you when your own people needed you? Hiding! You and Hank, pretending to be something you're not!"

"Erik, for the love of G-d, shut up and look!" Alex shouted with anger he didn't know he had towards the metal manipulator. Alex held onto Kotoha's shoulders as she continued to breathe into the oxygen mask. He was thankful for the training he received before he left for Vietnam.

Both Erik and Charles turned to look at Alex holding Kotoha as the plane finally started to level itself out. Erik started towards Kotoha to make sure she was okay, but a death glare from Alex told him to back off, so he kept his distance.

Charles started towards Kotoha before Erik whispered, "You abandoned us all." Charles glared at Erik. He knew he was right, but didn't want to think about it. He and Alex helped Kotoha back to a seat as her breathing leveled itself out. Erik kept his distance as he asked, "Is she okay?"

Alex turned to look at Erik. "That depends," Alex said. "Would you define being 'okay' as hyperventilating to the point of needing an oxygen mask inside a jet that was making a nosedive into the ocean 'okay?'"

"Well, no, but I-"

"Just shut up." Alex turned back to Kotoha and gently rubbed her back as she continued to breathe into the oxygen mask. "I got her," Alex said to Charles. Charles nodded as he walked into to the cockpit.

"So you were always an asshole," Logan commented.

"I take it we're best buddies in the future?" Erik asked.

Logan laughed. "I spent a lot of years trying to bring you down, bub."

"How's that work out for you?"

"You're like me. You're a survivor." Erik looked at Logan for a moment before Logan pointed to all the broken things on the floor of the jet and asked, "Want to pick all that shit up?"

Once Kotoha's breathing leveled out enough, Alex took the oxygen mask off of her. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks," she sighed as she leaned into Alex. "I hate heights, and we were falling..." she trailed off.

"It's over now, Kotoha," Alex said.

Erik picked up the broken bits that were on the floor in silence before he went to sit down and set up a chessboard. Alex glared at Erik the entire time. "I know what happened was partially his fault," Kotoha said, "but you don't have to constantly glare at the guy."

"Even so, he killed JFK."

"I didn't kill the president," Erik countered.

"The bullet curved, Erik," Charles said as he moved to sit across from Erik.

"Because I was trying to save him. They took me out before I could."

Alex, Logan, and Kotoha looked at each other with wide eyes before they turned back to Charles and Erik. "Why would you try and save him?" Charles asked.

"Because he was one of us."

Charles sighed and put his head in his hands. "You must think me so foolish. You've always said they'd come after us."

"I never imagined they'd use Raven's DNA to do it."

"When did you last see her?"

"The day I left for Dallas."

"How was she?"

"Strong...driven...loyal."

"How...how was she?"

"She was...we were..." Erik trailed off. "I could see why she meant so much to you. You should be proud of her, Charles. She's out there fighting for our cause."

"Your cause," Charles corrected. "The girl I raised, she was not capable of killing."

"You didn't raise her, you grew up with her. She couldn't stay a little girl forever, that's why she left."

"She left because you got inside her head."

"That's not my power. She made a choice."

"But now we know where that choice leads, don't we? She's going to murder Trask, they're going to capture her, and then they're going to wipe us out."

"Not if we get to her first. Not if we change history tomorrow." Erik sighed. "I'm sorry, Charles, for what happened. I truly am."

Tears started to fill Charles's eyes as he looked down at the chessboard and sighed. "It's been a while since I've played."

"I'll go easy on you, then. Might finally be a fair fight."

"You have the first move." Erik moved one of his pieces with his powers.

* * *

As soon as the jet landed, Kotoha jolted sharply when her feet touched the ground. Her eyes changed color and she froze in her spot. "Kotoha, what's wrong?" Alex asked. Logan looked on, concerned.

"There's...a room. Important government people are in there," Kotoha described. She gasped. "I see someone talking."

"What's going on?" Everyone but Charles asked.

"There are times when she can see and hear through another person's eyes and ears," Charles explained. "They can also speak through her. I thought this could only happen with mutants, though."

"What if there's a mutant there?" Erik asked. A look of realization dawned on everyone else.

Kotoha's voice changed, as did her eye color. Her eyes changed to a grey-ish brown, and with another voice, she said, "There is a new enemy out there, an enemy that will render your arsenals useless, your armies powerless and your nations defenseless."

Kotoha continued in the other voice, "You'll need a new weapon for this war. I call them Sentinels. Named after the ancient guardians that stood at the gates of the Citadel. A genetic guidance system that can lock onto a mark half a mile away and won't trigger unless it's identified the target." The others assumed that whoever was talking was the creator of the Sentinels and was talking about their programming.

"With this weapon, there will be no human collateral damage. If I turn it on, the system couldn't even activate in here." Kotoha's eyes turned back to normal, and described in her normal voice, "I hear something...some kind of beeping." Her eyes widened as they changed color again. "Unless," she said in the other voice, "there's a mutant."

Kotoha's eyes and voice returned to normal. "We have to hurry. Raven's in there. She's impersonating a government official. Raven's the one who caused Trask's device to react."

"Trask?" Logan asked. "You sure?"

"Positive," Kotoha replied. "We have to hurry. Raven could be in serious danger by the time we get there. Get in the car!"

The group piled into the car as they drove to the Paris Peace Accords. Erik used his powers to get past the security guards and open up the gate so that the car could go through. "Kotoha, can you find her?" Logan asked.

"My telepathy only works if both people are standing on the ground, or the first floor of a building, since that's on the ground. Let me try," Kotoha replied. She closed her eyes and concentrated as she tried to hone in on Raven. "I found her! Stop the car! She's on the first floor of this building!"

The group entered just in time to see her change from a Vietnamese general into her natural blue form. She fought off several of the guards by herself before she grabbed a gun and aimed it at Trask. "Raven!" Charles shouted as he, Alex, Logan, Hank, Erik, and Kotoha burst through the door. Suddenly, a guard recovered and shot his taser at Raven, which caused her to fall to the floor in pain. Erik used his powers to throw the taser off of Raven and onto the guard.

"Charles?" Raven gasped.

"We've come for you, Erik and I, together."

Logan looked around and with a look of recognition, he suddenly collapsed to the floor. "Logan!" Kotoha shouted as she and Alex ran over to the clawed mutant. She tried to read his mind, but it seemed to be slipping between present and future. "I can't read his mind clearly; it's like he's slipping between the present and the future!" She turned to Alex. "Stay with him." Alex nodded. Kotoha walked towards the other mutants.

"I'm going to keep you safe," Charles said to Raven, "I'm going to keep you out of their hands."

Kotoha noticed a look of realization cross Erik's face as he used his powers to grab the guard's gun. He aimed it at Raven. "Erik," Kotoha cautioned. She was thankful there was a potted plant in the room. She used her powers to get the dirt to become rocks that circled around her head as her eyes changed to a yellow color. "Whatever you think you're doing-"

"Securing our future," Erik said. "Forgive me, Mystique. As long as you're out there we'll never be safe."

"Erik?" Hank asked.

"Charles, use your powers," Raven begged. "Stop him!"

"He can't," Erik said coldly.

"Kotoha, please!" Raven begged.

"I'm so sorry...I don't know how to. I only know how to read minds," Kotoha sadly explained. Just as Erik was about to shoot the gun, Raven jumped out the window and Hank went in for the tackle, which ultimately caused the gun to fall, but a shot was still fired. The bullet followed Raven out the window and hit her in the leg as Kotoha helplessly watched her fall to the ground.

Kotoha continued to watch as Erik floated out of the window and started pulling Raven towards him. Suddenly, Logan jolted in surprise. He looked around in confusion before he asked, "Where the hell am I?"

"Huh?" Kotoha asked. She looked at Alex, who shrugged.

"How the hell did I get here?"

"What?" Charles asked. "You came to us."

"Who are you?" Logan asked.

"Charles." Logan grabbed Charles by his shirt. "Charles Xavier!"

"I don't know you."

"Huh?"

Logan then noticed that Hank had transformed into Beast. "What the hell is that?" Logan shouted as he backed away.

Beast looked at Logan angrily before Charles managed to calm him down and told him to stop Erik. Beast jumped out the window and Alex, Charles, and Kotoha stayed with Logan. "You're Logan, that's Hank McCoy, they're Kotoha and Alex. You spent the last couple of days with us," Charles explained. Logan continued to look on in confusion. Suddenly, Charles had an idea. "You're on acid. Somebody gave you really bad acid. Yeah?"

"'Acid?'" Kotoha asked Alex, who only shrugged.

It took a minute or two for Logan to come around, but when he did, he said, "Professor?"

Kotoha, Alex, and Charles all breathed a sigh of relief. "What happened to you?" Kotoha asked.

"I just saw someone who's going to bring me a lot of pain someday. Where's Raven?" Logan asked.

"Gone," Charles answered.

"What?"

"We have to get out of here. I can hear reporters outside," Alex said. "No doubt they saw Beast trying to kill Erik and Erik trying to kill a blue woman who could turn into other people."

Just as they were about to leave, they heard a voice saying, "Sorry I'm late! The sushi took longer than I thought, and I-" He stopped in as he not only looked around the wreckage of the hotel room, but noticed Kotoha for the first time. "Koto-chan?" he asked.

"Gen-san?" Kotoha gasped. She shook her head. "We have to go. Now. I'll call you and explain everything later. Now isn't the time for a reunion." With that, she grabbed Alex's hand and all the mutants ran out of the building.

* * *

**A/N: Unfortunately, my friends, we are slowly but surely nearing the end of _Days of Future Past_. No worries, I have plans to bring this into _Apocalypse_ and whatever other _X-Men _movies come out. I'm thinking about 1 or 2 more chapters before this ends. So we'll have lots of Kotoha/Alex action, and maybe appearances by the other Shinkengers? Only time (and my writing muse) will tell.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Two chapters? Gasp! kanna is on a roll! Will she ever stop? Only time will tell!**

**kanna does not own _Shinkenger_ or _X-Men_. You know who they belong to.**

* * *

Upon arrival at the Xavier mansion, Charles's legs suddenly gave out and he fell to the floor. Kotoha and Alex went to help Charles to his feet. "Why can't he walk?" Logan asked.

"Come on," Alex muttered, "up."

"He needs his treatment," Hank replied to Logan.

"Hank, I can hear them!" Charles yelled.

Kotoha sighed. She recalled explaining the situation to Alex, but Logan didn't know anything. As Charles's legs stopped working, his telepathic powers started coming back.

"It'll be okay," Hank said. "I'll get the treatment."

Hank left the room as Charles looked deeply distressed. "Hey, hey, pull yourself together. It's not over yet," Logan said.

"He's right!" Kotoha added. Alex nodded as he grabbed Kotoha's hand.

Charles shakily put his fingers to his temple before he said, "You don't believe that."

"How do you know?" Logan asked.

"As these go," Charles pointed to his legs, "this," Charles pointed to his head, "comes back. They all come back!"

"Charles, we're still here," Kotoha said. "She's still out there. But we need your help. Not like this, we all need you. We can't find Raven, not without your powers. I can't do it; she could be on a plane for all we know. We need you to use Cerebro."

Hank came back with the injection. "I added a little extra, since you missed a dose," he said. He handed the needle to Charles, who took it and held it up to his arm. He wanted the serum more than anyone could imagine, but he realized that the mutants out there needed him. If he didn't do anything, the future generations of mutants were as good as dead.

Charles dropped the syringe. "Hank," he sighed. "Help me to my study. Please." Kotoha and Alex and Hank all looked at each other before Hank and Alex helped Charles to his study while the other mutants followed closely behind. Upon arrival in the study, Charles pointed to a closet, which Hank opened.

"Are you sure about this?" Kotoha asked.

"Absolutely not," Charles answered as they all looked at something they hadn't seen in a long time: Charles's wheelchair.

Charles was helped into the wheelchair as they wheeled him over to Cerebro, which hadn't stopped working, despite all the years that had gone by. Upon arrival at the entrance, Alex asked, "When was the last time you were down here?"

"The last time we went looking for students," Hank replied.

"A lifetime ago," Charles commented. The computer scanned his eyes before it welcomed him into the room that contained Cerebro. He blew off several layers of dust that gathered on the helmet.

"Raven's wounded," Kotoha said. "She won't be moving fast."

Hank flipped some switches and started up Cerebro. Charles placed the helmet on his head as he said, "These are muscles I haven't stretched in a long time." Almost instantly, a wave of sharp pain went through his head as he was overwhelmed by all the mutants crying out for help. The glass over some of the gauges started to break. Charles yanked the helmet off of his head. Hank mentioned something about going to check a generator before he left.

"It's not the machinery, is it?" Logan asked.

"I can't do this," Charles sighed. "My mind..."

"Yes, you can," Kotoha said.

"It won't take it," Charles said.

"You're just a little rusty," Logan commented.

"You don't understand, it's not a question of being rusty. I can flip the switches, I can turn the knobs, but my power comes from here," Charles pointed to his head before he pointed to his heart, "it comes from...and it's broken. I felt like one of my students, helpless. It was a mistake coming down here. It was a mistake freeing Erik. This whole thing has been one bloody mistake!" Charles turned his wheelchair around and started to wheel his way out of the room. "I'm sorry, Logan, but they sent back the wrong man."

"You're right," Logan said. "I am." Charles paused at that, and Kotoha and Alex looked at each other. Kotoha didn't know Logan well, but he didn't seem like the type of person to readily admit that someone else was right. "Actually, it was supposed to be you. But I was the only one who could physically make the trip. And uh..." Logan trailed off. "I don't know how long I've got here, but I do know that a long time…actually, a long time from now, I was your most helpless student, and you unlocked my mind. You showed me what I was, you showed me what I could be. I don't know how to do that for you. You're right, I don't. But I know someone who might." Charles looked just as confused as Alex and Kotoha. "Look into my mind."

"You saw what I did to Cerebro," Charles protested. "You don't want me inside your head!"

"There's no damage you can do that hasn't already been done," Logan reasoned. "You two," he said to Alex and Kotoha, "out."

* * *

"Why did he kick us out?" Kotoha asked as she and Alex sat on the floor of Charles's study.

"I don't know," Alex sighed. "I'm just hopeful that whatever it is that Logan's planning will work. Who was he talking about when he said he knew someone who might be able to help the Professor? This whole thing is insane."

"I would have said crazy, but insane works, too." They both smiled at each other. "What if it's about something he doesn't have anymore?"

"What do you mean? He has everything a man could possibly want."

"Not a material item. It just seems like the Professor has given up. He needs to..." Kotoha's eyes widened in realization. "Hope. That's it. He needs to be able to hope again."

"Hope for what?"

"Hope that humanity can be shown a better path. That there isn't a set future. The future can be changed."

"Speaking of the future, Kotoha, I-" Alex was cut off when Hank came into the room and said that the power was back on. The three of them raced to the door of Cerebro, where Charles was told the same news. He smiled.

They entered Cerebro again, Charles put the helmet back on. Red and white lights that represented mutants and humans flooded the room. "Where is she?" Kotoha asked.

Charles was deep in concentration as he honed in on Raven. His powers weren't strong enough yet from the years they had been inactive, but he had to try. He took control of a female traveler the minute he found Raven. "Raven," he said through the traveler, "stop. Stop running."

"Charles?" Raven asked incredulously. "Where are you?"

"Back at the house; where you should be. I need you to come home."

"I know what I need to do."

Raven walked away and Charles took control of another traveler. He could feel his powers taking their toll, but he had to keep trying. Raven couldn't kill Trask. She'd just make others turn out to be like him and kill future generations of mutants. "If you kill Trask," Charles said through the other traveler, "you'll be creating countless more just like him."

"Then I'll kill them, too."

Charles took control of another traveler Raven passed and said through him, "Those are Erik's words, not yours." Raven continued to walk as Charles took control of a flight attendant's mind. Raven bumped into the flight attendant and dropped her plane ticket. She bent to pick it up with the flight attendant, before Charles spoke through the flight attendant, "The girl I grew up with wasn't capable of killing. She was good, fair, full of compassion."

"I have compassion," Raven argued. "Just not for Trask. He's murdered too many of us."

Raven grabbed her ticket and walked on. "Shut her down, Charles," Logan said. "Get in her head."

"She's not letting me in. I'm barely holding on, I'm not strong enough yet," Charles said.

There was one last try Charles had enough strength to make. He projected himself in front of Raven, who stopped in surprise. "I know what Trask has done, but killing him will not bring them back. It will set you on a path from which there is no return. An endless cycle of killing, us and them, till there is nothing left. But we can stop it, right now, you and I. You just have to come home."

"I have to?" Raven asked. She scoffed. "You haven't changed at all, Charles. Like I said, I know exactly what I have to do." She walked right through Charles's projection of himself, and the real Charles took off the helmet of Cerebro.

"Well?" Alex asked. "Where is she?"

"She's in an airport, boarding a plane," Charles sighed.

"A plane to where?"

Charles searched through the flight attendant's memories as he recalled, "Washington, D.C."

Hank sighed. "There's something I need to show you," he said. The other mutants followed Hank to a room with a lot of TVs. "This is the system I designed to record any news about Paris, over all three networks and PBS."

"All three?" Alex asked sarcastically. "Wow."

"Yeah. And PBS. Look what I found."

Hank played recorded footage of a news report, which said, "Tomorrow in front of the White House, the President will make his announcement. He'll be joined by Secretary of Defense Laird and has even sought the help of renowned scientist Bolivar Trask, he's special adviser to combat this mutant issue. The White House has asked..."

Hank stopped the video. "Raven doesn't realize that if she kills Trask at an event like that..." Charles trailed off.

"Then I came a long way for nothing," Logan sighed.

"And there's more bad news," Hank said. "I saw the report, they found traces of her blood in Paris. For all we know, they already have her DNA, which is all they'd need..."

"To create the Sentinels of the future," Logan finished.

"Now, there's a theory in Quantum Physics that time is immutable. It's like a river, you can throw a pebble into it, create a ripple, but the current always corrects itself. No matter what you do, the river just keeps flowing in the same direction."

"Hank, I never thought I'd say this, but English, please," Kotoha sighed.

"What I'm saying is, what if the war is inevitable? What if she's meant to kill Trask? What if this is just simply who she is?"

Charles thought for a moment, before he said, "Just because someone stumbles, loses their way, doesn't mean they're lost forever." He smiled to himself. "No, I don't believe that theory, Hank. And I cannot believe that that is who she is. Ready the plane, we're going to Washington."

* * *

After their arrival in Washington, D.C., the mutants were questioned by the security, who Charles convinced to let them in. Logan was relieved his claws hadn't set off the metal detector. As they all sat down, both Kotoha and Charles proceeded to search for Raven using their telepathy while they waited for the president to make his speech. After all, two heads were better than one.

"She has to be here," Kotoha muttered. "Any sign of her?" she asked Charles. Charles shook his head. "Well, at least we know she's here."

"The bad news is that she could be anyone here," Alex sighed.

"The President of the United States," the presenter announced as he walked away from the podium and the president walked up to it. The crowd cheered as Kotoha and Charles continued to search for Raven.

"My fellow Americans," the president started, "today, we face the greatest threat in our history: mutants. We have prepared for this threat. In the immortal words of Robert Oppenheimer, 'Behold. The world will never be the same again.'" He pointed to the American flag behind him that unveiled to reveal the Sentinels.

"I recognize them from the papers," Kotoha whispered to Alex, who nodded in agreement.

"Raven!" Charles exclaimed. "I have her!"

"Let me go, Charles," she mumbled.

Charles pointed to a Secret Service man towards the left of the stage and told Kotoha, Alex, Hank, and Logan to go stop her. But before they reached her, Alex noticed something on the ground. "Hey, guys," he asked, "what's that?" He pointed to a large shadow of something round on the ground. The mutants looked up and saw what appeared to be an entire stadium floating in the air with Erik right behind it.

"Whatever it is, it looks like it's headed towards the White House," Logan said. "Let's move!"

They walked up to the stage where they saw there worst fears realized: the Sentinels were active. "How?" Kotoha asked. "There shouldn't be an ounce of metal..." she gasped in realization.

"What?" Alex asked. "What is it?"

"Erik must have put metal into them so he could control them," Kotoha explained. The crowd cheered when the Sentinels activated. The mutants walked closer to the stage before they were stopped by a guard. Erik dropped the stadium. "Charles!" Kotoha gasped. Part of the stadium landed on him and from what Kotoha could see, it didn't look good.

"I'm fine," Charles weakly said through telepathy to Kotoha. "Stop Erik and Raven!"

The group of mutants split up; Hank went with Logan and Alex went with Kotoha. "Do you think we make it in the future?" Kotoha asked.

"Who knows?" Alex responded. "Just live life like today's your last day."

They saw Hank change into Beast, but the group was quickly noticed by Erik. "Do what you were made for," he commanded the Sentinel next to him. The Sentinel shot at the group of mutants, but his attacks were blasted away by Alex.

"We got this!" Beast shouted to Logan. "Go!" Beast jumped onto the Sentinel and ripped out its fuel line, while Kotoha and Alex used their powers to take out as many of the Sentinels as they could. Logan tried to fight off Erik, but was suddenly thrown into a body of water, where he didn't come up.

A few minutes later, a giant safe flew out of the White House and landed with a _thud_ on the ground. Erik pulled apart the door to the safe, revealing multiple Secret Service agents, Trask, and the president.

Erik then floated all their guns into the air and turned the TV cameras to face him. "You built these weapons to destroy us," Erik declared. "Why? Because you are afraid of our gifts. Because we are different. Humanity has always feared that which is different. Well, I'm here to tell you, to tell the world, you're right to fear us. We are the future. We are the ones who will inherit this earth, and anyone who stands in our way will suffer the same fate as these men you see before you. Today was meant to be a display of your power. Instead I give you a glimpse of the devastation my race can unleash upon yours. Let this be a warning to the world. And to my mutant brothers and sisters out there, I say this; no more hiding, no more suffering. You have lived in the shadows in shame and fear for too long. Come out, join me. Fight together in the brotherhood of our kind. A new tomorrow, that starts today."

"You want to make a statement?" The president asked. "Kill me? Fine! But spare everyone else!"

"Are most Americans this heroically stupid?" Kotoha asked Alex with a smile.

"Very heroic, Mr. President. But you have no intention of sparing any of us. The future of our species begins now," Erik declared. Suddenly, a bullet grazed Erik's neck as the president suddenly transformed into Raven. "You used to be a better shot," he commented.

"Trust me," she growled, "I still am." Raven kicked Erik in the head and knocked him out. After knocking Erik out, Raven pointed her gun at Trask before everyone except Beast (who had transformed back into Hank), Kotoha, and Alex froze. While they couldn't see what was going on, they quickly assumed from the dialog taking place that Charles was talking to Raven and trying to reason with her. Raven eventually dropped the gun as Charles unfroze everyone in the area. She took off Erik's helmet that blocked Charles's telepathy. "He's all yours, Charles."

Charles used his powers to control Erik and get the stadium off of him. Hank, Alex, and Kotoha ran over to Charles and helped him to his feet. He looked pretty beaten up and had multiple wounds that were going to need attention as soon as possible. "If you let them have me, I'm as good as dead," Erik called out to Charles.

"I know," Charles replied.

"Goodbye, old friend."

"Goodbye, Erik."

Erik looked at the group of mutants, then Raven, before he floated away. Raven turned to look at Charles, and then she walked away as well. "You sure we should let them go?" Hank asked.

"Yes, I have hope for them. There's going to be a time, Hank, when we are all together," Charles answered with a sigh.

"What about Logan?"

"I sensed his mind for a moment, if that," Kotoha said. "He sank to the bottom of some body of water. He's unconscious, but he's alive and out there somewhere."

* * *

Kotoha sat in her room in the mansion as she played her flute. Daichi was asleep at her feet. It had been a week since Washington, D.C., and she still hadn't quite gotten over the stress of it yet. The school was going to be up and running again in a month, and the professor swore he would never touch another drop of the serum that took away his powers. Hank was the only one who used it, and he used just enough to keep himself balanced through the day.

The professor even offered Kotoha and Alex teaching positions at the school, which they both accepted. It would be a month before the professor looked for new students, but he promised he would after a month. It was a time for everyone to relax after everything that had happened.

Kotoha was excited. Her birthday was today, and the professor promised he would help her learn more about her telepathic skills tomorrow. Alex had been nothing short of amazing; he took her to meet his parents and brother a few days ago (much to her surprise), and the whole Summers family seemed to like her quite a lot. Although the two were still dating, Kotoha was a little surprised. Why would Alex take her to meet his parents? Unless...Kotoha shook her head. There was no way what she was thinking could even remotely be a possibility.

She sometimes helped Hank out in the lab. While she was nowhere near as smart as Hank (Kotoha thought that the only person whose intelligence could rival Hank's was _maybe_ Charles), there was enough for her to do to keep her busy.

Additionally, she also helped Charles and Hank with converting some of the rooms in the mansion into classrooms and dormitories for the students. There was much to do, and only a month to do it all in, so everyone was pitching in and they were all under a lot of pressure because of the time. But today was a day off from it all for everyone.

Kotoha even got birthday phone calls on her Shodophone from the Shinkengers (minus Chiaki) and she told them about all the crazy stuff that happened while Logan was there and how she ran into Genta in Paris. Both the Shinkengers and the mutants seemed to be doing well, but Kotoha was a little suspicious of Alex.

Why?

For the past couple of days, he'd leave the mansion for long periods of time, and not come back until super late at night. Kotoha kept reminding him he needed his rest, but he didn't seem to be taking her advice. She wondered what he was up to as she put her flute down and made her way downstairs to make some lunch. Daichi followed her eagerly.

Today was just like those past few days. Alex was out of the mansion, again. She wondered when he'd be back as she started to make ramen for herself. She was thankful that the professor had bought some Japanese food that Kotoha could make. She smiled to herself as she felt that it was too quiet in the mansion. She missed Raven and Sean. "Smells good," Hank said as he walked into the kitchen. "Mind if I join you for lunch?"

"Sure," Kotoha replied. Hank smiled and he sat down at the table. As soon as the ramen was ready, Kotoha grabbed two bowls and carefully put ramen into each of them. She brought the bowls over to the table before she grabbed chopsticks for the two of them. "Let's eat!"

There was a little bit of silence as the two ate their ramen, before Hank asked, "Have you thought about what you're going to teach when the school opens?"

"Not really," Kotoha sighed. "I'm a little nervous about the idea. I know I accepted a position, but..."

Hank nodded. "Understandable." A silence hung in the air again.

"Do you know anything about where Alex keeps going?"

"I wish. He hasn't been telling me anything. I think the only one who knows anything is Charles, and you can't read his mind."

Kotoha sighed. "It's really been annoying me, lately. My curiosity is overwhelming. If he has to sneak off to watch porn or go to a strip club, it's fine! I just wish he'd tell me instead of leaving me in the dark."

"Okay, I'm no relationship expert, but I think I can honestly say he's not sneaking off to watch-"

"I'm back," Alex said as he walked into the kitchen. He smelled the leftover ramen in the pot on the stove. "Smells good. Enough for one more bowl?" Kotoha nodded and went to grab another bowl and a pair of chopsticks, before Alex whispered to her, "Meet me in the garden at 8 tonight." Kotoha raised an eyebrow, but nodded nonetheless, and got him a bowl of ramen and chopsticks.

A few hours passed, and after cake, presents, and a lot of laughter that was very much needed in the Xavier mansion, Kotoha finally went outside with Alex to the garden. The two sat on a bench, and a silence between the two hung in the air. "So," Kotoha said in an attempt to break the silence, "what's up with the privacy?"

Alex got up and fished in his jacket pocket before he pulled out a small, black box. He got down on one knee and Kotoha gasped. "Kotoha, we've made so many memories together. The past few days have been insane, but unforgettable. Your connection to everything and everyone around you is something I truly admire." Tears filled Kotoha's eyes. "Kotoha Hanaori, will you marry me?"

Without hesitation, and in the midst of tears of happiness, Kotoha replied, "Yes! Yes, I will marry you!" The two then shared a very passionate kiss before they smiled at each other.

Alex put the ring on Kotoha's finger, and for the first time in a long time, Kotoha felt like everything was falling into place.

* * *

**A/N: And that's the end of Overdose! I wish I could give you a preview of the sequel, A Whole New World, which will tie into _Apocalypse_, but it's still in the outlining stages. I plan to have it up this summer, but I make no promises. Reviews are love! ~k**


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